NASA Plans to Create the Coldest Spot in the Universe

Would you ever want to go to the coldest place on earth? If you do then think again because it is -273.15C, that’s more than 100 million times colder than space!

There is a box called Cold Atom Laboratory, which is flying into space to get to the International Space Station in Summer 2018. When it is there, it will freeze gas atoms because it is absolute zero! Absolute zero is -273.15C that’s the lower temperature that it can ever get to.

The Cold Atom Laboratory has lasers, vacuum chambers and an electromagnetic knife. They’ll work together to cool and slow down the gas until it barely moves. The pull of gravity means that it is not possible to do this on earth.

“Studying these hyper-cold atoms could re-shape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity,” commented CAL Project Scientist Robert Thompson. “The experiments we’ll do with the Cold Atom Laboratory will give us the insight into gravity and dark energy- some of the most pervasive forces in the universe.”

The Cold Atom Laboratory is currently undergoing a testing phase that will prepare it prior to delivery to Florida.